How Lara and Larson met
by Bloodthirsty Muffin
Summary: A little one shot about how Lara and Larson meet in lovely Italy and land thereby in bed...


One thing at first: English is not my native language. So, if you find grammatical mistakes, I'm very sorry. My English isn't perfect but I try to improve it. :-)

I wrote that one shot originally in my mother tongue and then I translated it. It was not an easy piece of work! I'm afraid my comma placement is totally wrong… mostly I did it like I'd do it in my language but I think it will seem very…odd to you. But please don't mind…

When I played TRA it came to my mind how Lara and Larson met because they also knew each other in chronicles. That's my interpretation and I hope you like it. ;-)

Lara Croft and Larson Conway belong to Eidos/Core Design/Crystal Dynamics.

Enough of that…have fun!

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**How Lara and Larson met**

_Italy_

_Messina_

_Hotel Mirelle_

_10:49 pm_

Resignedly Lara put the biro and her journal with brown leather binding on the beside locker.

'This should have been everything I experienced today', she thought rubbing tiredly her eyes.

The bedder of her pretty and roomy hotel room was immersed into a soft light by lamps. The caring chosen decoration was peacefully located where it belonged.

Under a chair on the other side of the room was a pair of brown boots. On the back rested a green shirt and brown hot pants, next to white stockings. Weapon belt together with pistols, rucksack, black mitts and grapple rested on the seat.

Lara yawned exhaustedly.

Some hours ago, she hadn't thought that this day could end that peacefully.

"Over there she is! Come on, grab her!", loud and rough voices had shouted.

Retrieving the _Venus Jewel_ hadn't had been hard. She had had to master some traps, climbing matches and riddles, to hold the artefact after that in her hands.

But after she had done the way back , she had encountered an upset. Rinaldo de Saliba – an in archaeology interested criminal with financial and social far-reaching resources – had sent his troop of mercenaries to make Lara's life difficult.

"Talk sense. Just ignorance would make it possible for you to offer resistance to a 30-man-strong troop", the leader had warned her.

In the hot sun she had discovered, next to the old one, a young man, who apparently hadn't been a simple mercenary because his clothing had stood out from the uniform of the soldiers.

He had grinned impish at her. It had almost been, as if he would have knew that Lara wouldn't surrender by default.

"Ignorance or deftness?", Lara had countered and implemented her plan to escape.

All tricks, handle bars, sidesteps and attacks she had needed for it were now written in her journal. This sensational act would play a part in her next book which would ensure furore and head the attention of the press to her.

But she didn't want to care now about the media, that often asked for interviews, reports and documentations about the aristocratical archeologist and almost bothered her as a consequence.

"Where have _you _been?", had an old lady scornfully asked, when Lara had alighted dirty and sweaty from her jeep in front of the hotel.

"In a tomb. Maybe that would be good for you too", Lara had answered and ignored the woman, though she had grouched after this about an 'abysmal brashness'.

She hadn't cared either about the looks of the hotel guests, who invariably belonged to the fine society. She had just wanted into her room.

'An arm chair can be so wonderful', she had thought, when she had finally reached and could relax in the smooth upholstery.

By and by she had realised how dirty she really was, wherefore she had decided to have a shower.

The warm beads of water had provided her straight, but littered with abrasions and cuts, skin the cleanliness she had wished for. The mixture of perfumes of her shower foam out of sallow thorn and figs had been good for her nose, which had had to endure the smells of a rotted ruin full of corpses, some hours ago.

Either the blood of the aggressive animals and pushy creatures, of which most thought they would just exist in fictions, which had wanted to protect the temple, was now washed away. There was always relying on Lara's weapons. Lara was in every adventure armed on the go. Not because it was fun for her to kill – quite the contrary – but to guard her own life.

She never started the fight. She just defended herself.

Lara saw to the beside locker, where there was next to the journal a magenta ruby. The Venus Jewel.

'You will do a good job in my collection' she contemplated happily smiling about her successful retrieval.

Tiredly she put off the lamp on the locker, so that darkness spread out in the room. Lara was glad about it and huddled against the soft sachets and warm blankets of her wide double bed. She closed exhaustedly her eyes and sank into her well-earned sleep.

_02:27 am_

Larson Conway opened soundlessly the door with a key.

'Thanks, reception-floozie', he thought grinning and entered.

After closing the door behind him, he stood still some minutes to make his eyes accustomed to the darkness.

After all that would be necessary for this mission. He had been instructed to steal the Venus Jewel from Lara Croft. With pleasure he had taken over this concern, because except for the beautiful face and the trained, extremely attractive, body something else had fascinated him on the archeologist.

When his eyes could finally see frugally in the blackness, he began to rummage in the living room. But in no drawer, in no cabinet, in no other hiding-place, he searched in, he found what he was looking for.

'I should have thought that she wouldn't keep it that far away from herself', he told himself and approached the closed door, which apparently conducted to the bed room.

Slowly he pressed down the handle and slid the door not soundlessly open.

Suddenly Lara awoke from her sensitive sleep and tore open her eyes.

'Someone opened the door', it became at once clear to her and any tiredness flew away. 'Someone is here.'

Her eyes narrowed to slits.

She lay on the side and the invader neared according to the sounds by behind. He had planned to all appearances a surprise attack.

'Let's see who will surprise whom', she promised in thoughts.

She felt how adrenalin slowly spread in her blood and let her feel a warm prickle.

Larson stopped in front of her bed and eyed mirthfully the female shape, which loomed on the bedspread. For gladly he would have joined now the tomb raider in her bed to follow up lower desires. But he knew that she wouldn't value his company and the jewel was now more mattering.

On the side locker on the other side of the bed he recognized the gemstone. Once more he eyed sleeping Lara and stooped over the sleeping place to stretch his right hand.

Like lightning Lara reacted, gripped his arm and pulled powerfully on it, so he finally landed after a turn on his back on the smooth bed and Lara sat down on him.

Larson eyed the silhouette of her body in the darkness and enjoyed her cosy perfume. His male instincts detained him from undertaking something against this for him pleasant situation.

Lara, for whom this overpowering had been too easy, turned on the light of the beside lamp.

Larson's eyes widened when he saw how less clothed the beautiful woman was, who sat on him. Her light-blue, sheer and figured with frills pyjamas showed much skin. The pantaloon wasn't longer than a hot pants and her top had a deep v-neck. Her long, brown hair were bare and hung strand by strand into her face and ornamented consequently her pretty face. He couldn't suppress a smile.

The intruder had short, blond hair and wore a white shirt with a blue jeans. His physique was very muscular. Quickly it became clear to her that he was the one who had grinned at her short before her sensational escape.

Lara noticed his facial expression and inferred wanton thoughts, wherefore she gripped his collar and pressed him into the cushions.

"You are one of Saliba's men! You were this afternoon at the party too. Was that an attempt to take the jewel away from me?", she wanted to know charging.

"Yes, it was", Larson confessed without digression.

"Who are you?", Lara asked briskly and gripped his collar more strongly.

"Conway. Larson Conway", Larson answered with daring undertone. Involuntary Lara laughed honestly about that joke, but after this she hoisted her eyebrows to pretend cynicism. "And you're Miss Croft, aren't you?"

His American Dixie-accent wasn't ignorable.

"Oh, you know my name. Too bad that our first meeting has to pass of that way, tough such good conditions", she admitted sarcastically.

"Bad? I think it's a very good result that we've landed in bed while our first meeting", Larson replied with a perverse grinning and put his hand on her whip.

Lara gave him a painful slap in his face so he pulled his hand back.

"Either you leave now my rooms or will have to coerce you", Lara warned with an angrily undertone.

"I will leave your rooms, Miss…", Larson began. "But only with the jewel."

Suddenly he let Lara feel a hook on her chin, whereupon she was dashed to the side, and grabbed the jewel.

"I really would have liked to stay longer, darling!", he shouted, while he left running the room.

Lara coerced herself to ignore the pain, stood up and took a pistol of the chair with her things, but when she wanted to start the chase, she broke down again.

"Nasty piece of work!", she blustered loudly and coerced herself to some seconds of détente, ere she dared a new try, which succeeded this time.

'You won't get off cheaply', she assured herself, while she pelted through the now opened door out of her room.

Grinning he put the jewel into his trouser pocket. He ran through the elegant decorated corridors, when he pushed an old married couple apart.

"What a nerve!", they called after him, but Larson didn't hear it.

Lara ran out of her room, noticed the two annoyed people and supposed Larson was blame for their displeasure. Quickly she ran into the direction, they looked into. After she had left a corner behind her, she saw at the end of the corridor how the hoist took meanly smiling Larson as the only passenger with it.

"See you bottom!", he said good-bye.

Lara didn't have time to fret and accessed the staircase to her left. To save time, she missed out some steps, left sometimes a whole landing, whereby her feet ached because of the hard bounce.

After every floor she glanced at the particular floor, whether Larson had already alighted and his hint hadn't been an wrong one.

But she really ran to the ground floor and arrived out of breath in the entrance hall, where though the late hour many people cavorted in fine evening attire. Because of her exiguous clothing together with the weapon in her hand they looked confusedly at Lara and whispered.

Breathing hardly she stopped in front of the hoister, which opened just some seconds later and pointed her pistol at the only passenger.

Larson was visibly surprised that Lara had arrived at the ground floor before he had.

"You're really quickly", he admitted.

"Do you await that I'm feeling flattered now?", Lara questioned coolly.

"Why don't we get back into bed? There it was much more relaxed", he replied.

As an outsider she _may _could have laughed about that comment, but she showed no evidence of amusement.

"Stay fluffily. It's just a stone…and not even a valuable one."

Lara narrowed her eyes and looked angrily at him.

"Wrong."

Larson laughed dismissive.

"What's it then?"

Lara fixed him. She knew, he was one of those, who wouldn't comprehend it and who either didn't want to.

'A piece of contemporary history. Something that survived many years and events. Something that money can't buy.'

"You wouldn't understand", Lara answered finally.

"Well, if you fancy. Don't you want to shoot me?", he asked and looked at the pistol which pointed at him.

"Not in front of all these people", Lara retorted but Larson felt that this wasn't the only reason.

"And I thought you'd have enough money for the right solicitors" he annotated. "But if you don't want to…"

Larson charged at Lara and pushed her to the side, so she bounced at the floor. He fled, but Lara didn't let him escape. Tightly she clutched her weapon with sweaty fingers and aimed at the grounded keeping hooks of a pretty hanging basket, which was braced at the ceiling. While that she consumed her last shots and threw the weapon after it into the corner.

Larson, who supposed Lara would be a bad shooter, ran on, but the shock, when the heavy entity impinged on the white marmoreal floortiles and the substance soiled the ground, let him stop abruptly.

Before he could say knife, he was jerked by Lara by behind to the floor. She pressed his arms on his back, wherefore he gave out a scream of pain. But with his muscular arms he did it to resist the force successfully.

He straightened up and hustled Lara away to lunge at her. It was almost the same situation like some minutes ago in Lara's bed, except Larson _'lay up'_.

Meantime a grand crowd had formed around the two, that though didn't undertake a attempt to break the fight and watched it interestedly instead.

"This position seems to be our destiny", he hinted. "It's indeed not my style in front of all those people to-"

His comment was interrupted by a punch of Lara on his cheekbones. Lara pushed him away, stood up and pulled him on his light brown hair on his legs and hustled him away.

"You understand no fun at all", Larson accused and rubbed his aching cheek.

Lara waited briefly, until she found her breath ere she talked.

"Fun can turn easily into seriousness."

"I'd support staying at fun, if you understand, what I mean", Larson replied and Lara looked again angrily at him. "Ooh…come on, Lara. Don't be so uptight, not so…English."

"Stop eventually talking and come to business", Lara ordered and turned into fight-position.

"If that's your opinion", Larson answered.

Lara observed his moves advertently and so she could react at once with a jink when Larson attacked her. He started a new affront by a punch, which hit Lara in her stomach region and let her make a false step.

Regardless of the pain Lara performed a flik-flak rearward at which she let Larson feel a kick into his face.

Quickly Larson picked up courage again and launched over again at Lara so that they lay again on the floor and a brawl began in which they didn't realise how they reached the restaurant of the hotel where only few guests who had enjoyed until then a delicious meal, started up appalledly.

Soon they stood uprightly again to continue the violent conflict. When they fought finally in front of the door to the kitchen and bandied many clever attacks Larson did it to convey Lara by a strong kick through the swing door into the kitchen where she landed on the white floortiles and hit an in the floor tightly fixed table.

Waiters, cooks and their helpers reacted shocked but however they didn't try to help visibly pressed Lara or to ask her for her condition. They just cared for protecting the food and drinks of the violent happenings which occurred.

The acute pain in her backbone incapacitated her and made her furthermore noticing to feel now either the kicks and punches which she had had to endure in the course of the fight.

She breathed slowly in and out and strained her eyes, hoping to bear the pain more easily.

Larson's injuries made itself felt but he was able to hide his suffering without problems. Keeping cool he stepped to Lara into the kitchen and stopped in front of her.

"Like I always say: women belong into the kitchen", he commented dismissively and grinned at Lara.

She couldn't laugh about that note. Instead she looked wrothly at him and desired eagerly that the pain would evaporate to start a new attack as possible.

"So, I've won…don't you want to cook something for me?", he suggested still with the same smirking.

Lara was amazed that he didn't just disappear. He could have run the not very long way out and enter there a taxi to escape. But instead he waited properly that Lara would rally.

"Cook? Only your goose", Lara replied whose pain finally reduced.

Larson laughed.

"Great saying."

"Thanks", Lara answered coolly.

She stood up, holding on the edge of the table. From the corner of her eye she observed Larson. According to his mien, he expected that Lara would need some time until she was again able to attack.

But he had assumed wrongly. By now Lara lunged at him and one more violent fight began which guided them back to the restaurant, from there outside and finally to the empty pool, in which at that time no one swam.

The cool air of summer blew strands of hair into her face but although she missed not one of Larson's moves.

On the pool edge Lara stroke Larson a kick into his hollow of the knee, which let him slump down in the direction of the pool. Falling into it he grabbed Lara's arm so in the end both were in the breast-deep water. The abrupt cold-shock let both appal shortly, but they did it in lighting-speed to accustom to the cold water.

The skirmish went on. Everyone tried to draw the other one underneath the water to make their breathing impossible. Larson tackled underwater although he knew that punched from there had no effect. Lara grabbed his nearing arm, turned it on his back and pulled with the other hand his hair.

Although he knew that he could have won free he decided to end resistance. The power, Lara Croft had shown had been very impressive to him though he had been warned before how unpredictable this woman could be.

"Okay, okay…you've won", he admitted pretending to be fulsome out of breath.

Lara didn't want to believe in this avowal and still hold him tightly.

"Where is the jewel?", she wanted to know hardly.

"In my trouser pocket", he confessed but thereupon Lara pulled his hair tighter. "Really!"

She loosed her handhold and decided to follow up that statement. After she had let go his hair she checked Larson's right trouser pocket and made a find.

How good that she couldn't see Larson's eminently delighted facial expression.

She pulled out the stone. It was without doubt the deep-red artefact. Smiling about her success she let Larson's arm go and pushed him away.

Without looking once more at him she waded into the low water until she finally reached the steps to dry ground. The cold air of the night let her freeze.

Larson, who stood now also closely behind Lara on the steps, grinned again.

"You know something?", he began. "This view is making me up for my defeat."

Lara whose clothing clung now even more on her body and whose advantageous shapes became thereby more apparent, turned around and looked unimpressively at Larson what confused him.

Then, suddenly and without warning, Lara stroke out for a last punch and hit Larson's nose so that he fell back by pain and eventually sat in the water where slowly blood spread.

'The tables have turned', a thought crossed her mind. Now she grinned overbearingly at him and the angrily mien was left for Larson.

"Does it still?", Lara questioned amused and got out of the pool.

Now the jewel belonged to her again. Although she knew Rinaldo de Saliba would perhaps make an attempt to drop the artefact from her, she was glad. While she stepped again into the inside of the hotel one more thing became clear to her.

'You always meet twice in life', it occurred to her. 'At least…'

Lara wondered involuntarily when she would meet Larson again. For any reason she was already now sure they would also be enemies at their second meeting.

'What a pity', Lara thought. 'He seemed to be quite funny.'

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I'm very grateful for reviews, also for critical ones. Of course I want to become a better writer. So, don't abstain and write a review. Thank you very much for reading. :-) 


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